jude79

The judgment on the album is shareable (in my opinion, we're between 4 and 5 stars), but the reception is rather lacking.

Niccolò's empathetic qualities are quite disarming... a natural gift, to say the least, which, combined with his taste and intelligence, makes him a true artist... This album has stunning atmospheres, even if more subdued; one might say they are illuminated by artificial lights at night... it is listened to in one breath and is truly an intense journey... it's difficult to compare it to the previous "Una somma di piccole cose," although stylistically, the constants outweigh the variables (in my opinion, tradition wins)... it’s the thematic space-time coordinates that drastically change the horizon of these 9 new tracks, which feel more open and less confined within four studio walls... In the previous album, intimacy was like a key, a personal code from home, something truly private and earthly, while here the air element recurs as if between logic and spirituality, words and musical codas, one could glide while feeling emotions and reflecting as well. It's not simple skill; it’s almost magic...

Good review... but be careful... the comparison of "Refuge" with the Tears For Fears of "The Seeds Of Love," and "Nower Now" also with the early 90s Tears is extremely misleading. Let's not forget that that Tears album ("The Seeds of Love" is the perfection of authorial pop) was released practically right before 1990 and has absolutely nothing to do with the 80s anymore. And if you're talking about "Goodnight Song," well, we're already in 1993... "To the Bones" is an album of good songs, but it's basically a "Stupid Dream" with modern sounds and a few pop tributes (see Abba), included duets... At first, I appreciated it, listened to it again and included it in Steven's solo work; it gives me the idea of a new attempt, in a certain sense "extreme," to grab a bigger market share... I emphasize that I have respected him as a musician for over 20 years, but his recent comments on Greta Van Fleet (even if theoretically justifiable on a musical critique level) seemed really out of place coming publicly from a colleague, which Steven is... and fundamentally much more seasoned... In short, what need does an institution like Steven Wilson have to disparage and insult 4 excited kids who are imitating Led Zeppelin?! H.C.N.E still made some sense, Steven's first three solo albums are absolutely essential (my favorite is Grace for...). At this point, I have the impression of an imminent drastic change; after all, true artists need to evolve to continue producing... Could it be time to reunite the Porcupine Trees...?

There’s nothing sadder and unhappier than putting together a few phrases without even having listened properly to the reviewed album (it’s obvious) and coming up with the usual banality...
One little star if you listen to "Amorphae" by Ben Monder and gift us with more critical insights of an encyclopedic musical nature.

I would say that this album is absolutely the best since "Viva la Vida" ... the guys are back making music, there's not much to say, it's an album that breaks the colorful pop vein to return to doubts and anxieties more in line with the times we live in ... musically, it completely disregards commercial linearity, just think of the two-and-a-half-minute symphonic strings of "Sunrise" (fabulous intro) ... to the gospel, even from a church choir, to funk, to ethnic contaminations, or to the almost half of the album that is simply acoustic (either just guitar or voice and piano and little else). It's a reduction operation but it's not at all the minimalism of "Sky Full of Stars" (an album that started poorly and continued on the electro-pop ridge, too sad for people like the four guys who play well). In this concept album about diversity, divided between the Dawn and Dusk sections, new instruments are introduced for the Group (oud, various percussions, strings, and brass sections), perhaps realizing a bit late that everyday life, the real one, cannot always be an explosion of colorful yeye to sing in stadiums (even Jovanotti understood it with "Oh Vita"). And even though today music has become almost purely business and entertainment for everyone, trying to communicate emotions requires a different language, let's call it "Artistic". Of course, listening to the first single "Orphans," you think "Here we go again..." but included in the album, that little song plays the non-trivial role of lightening a hefty amount of music (16 tracks) that has very little cheerful and carefree ... The quality of an album can be well sensed from its beginning and its ending right from the first listens; in "Everyday Life," the first three and the last three tracks are absolutely a succession of emotions ... the title track touches hidden chords deep within ... and if we then think that the most surprising piece of the album, "Arabesque," is placed in the middle of the album, then we understand that this time Chris and company have really hit the mark.

The real charm of this album lies not so much in the compositional beauty or sophistication of the tracks, but in the absolutely raw sound that emerges from it... the drums sound absurdly dynamic and powerful, as do the guitars (even when they're nebulous) and the bass that wonderfully blends with the vocal parts... if "Antics" had sounded like this, it would have been even better than "Turn on the Bright Lights"... another thing I appreciated is the songwriting; it grants little to commerciality, perhaps only the first track and number 10, the rest is stripped down, shot out there, and comes across very directly... some complain about Banks, saying he writes as if he were a philosophy student who just got dumped, riding home in a taxi through the nighttime streets of NY, thinking perhaps he should have pursued a career in photography... aside from the absurdly abstract scenario, they could be the same ones who criticize the shifts of bands like Tame Impala, etc... in the end, you can't ask these guys to play prog rock or become U2 (thankfully)... rather, there’s probably a sound in this album that the very same U2 have been desperately trying to find for years (does anyone remember that little great masterpiece "Boy"?!). Much better than the last four (even O.L.T.A., which required some effort to listen to all the way through), it's on par with Antics.

Absolutely miserable review... it's a masterpiece, a significant stroke of inspiration. For those who have doubts, I also recommend listening to the b-sides (from 2008), each one more beautiful than the last, including Blue pacif ocean... The album was and is "Avanti" in every sense (including the literal one) and is absolutely in line with the band's best works, if not ahead!

A splendid album, starting from the artwork of the vinyl format... one of the best albums of recent years...

For the work, I would say 3 and a half stars... what Martyn will do next, from "Bless The Weather" to "Grace & Danger," through the three masterpieces (very different from each other) "Solid Air," "Inside Out," and "One World," is simply epic, both in terms of the blending of styles and arrangements and the evolution of his timbre and vocal style... here we are at a high level but still distant from the astonishing pure magic that follows. Anyway, great review!

You tried ... but if there is "a lot of crisis" in the world of Italian notes, I see even more among our emerging cabaret artists ... at most it would be stuff for maternity replacements on some dodgy broadcaster in the Arezzo area ... for the series Checco Zalone as Chaplin ...
With affection "Puniscere" go endlessly to ranare :) :)